House Of Hades
by AnnaKate-Jackson
Summary: Picking up where the Mark of Athena left off in the point of view of Piper, Annabeth, Jason, and Percy.
1. Chapter 1

Piper thought that if you were to say that the crew was in shock of what had happened, it would be a little bit of an understatement… of epic proportions. Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. _Tartarus. _Hell. The infinite black hole straight into the most dark and sunken place in the world, mortal and immortal. To think that after being separated for six months, that they would have fallen into Tartarus together seemed like the ending of some Greek tragedy.

And maybe it was. But desperately Piper hoped it wasn't. They didn't deserve that. They obviously had been through more than any person ever should be in their lives. Piper decided that she was going to only let herself believe that they would be okay. After all, they _had_ been through _a lot_ of things. They could make it out of Tartarus. Right?

Piper had been sitting in the mess hall on the Argo II, half-sitting half-laying on a bench, whilst staring out at one of the charmed windows that showed real-time footage of Camp Half-Blood. She was dreading the moment they would have to face the campers. Although Camp Half-Blood already felt like a second home to her, she knew that it had been Percy and Annabeth's _actual_ home for years. They knew practically everyone at camp, and they were kind of the ones everyone looked up to. They were the leaders.

And they were in Tartarus.

She didn't really know what to expect when they got to camp. How would the campers react? Obviously, they had already gotten wind of what had happened, but how would they react to the others returning without the camp's beloved leaders? And not that the rest of the crew was to be shunned or something like that; Piper was more afraid that the other campers, would indirectly blame them for what had happened, although she knew it wasn't. But she couldn't have helped feeling guilty. She could've done something, anything. But it was too late now.

Piper vaguely saw Leo in her peripheral vision. He leaned against the door frame, and was twiddling something around in his hands. He cleared his throat.

"We're going to be landing soon." He said. "Just giving you a heads up."

"Thanks", Piper sighed. She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "Are you feeling as crappy as I am?" She asked Leo.

Leo heaved a long sigh. "Pretty much. I can't help feeling like this is all my fault." He said, taking a seat next to Piper. "I could have dropped down a rope, or even a net, or a hook or something.." He muttered, looking at the ceiling.

"You aren't the only one." Piper murmured, looking at her feet. "What if they hate us when we get there?"

"They aren't going to hate you." Someone said, in an unusually _un_obnoxious voice. Piper and Leo turned around and saw Coach Hedge walking into the mess hall. "You're demigods. You fight for what's right. And sometimes you lose people in the process. I've seen lots of great warriors fall." He sighed, a melancholy tone to his voice, as if he was recalling old memories. "But enough of that sissy business. Get ready to land this ship, cupcakes." He said, swiftly turning on his heel, and karate chopping the air as he walked off.

"Yeah, I should probably get on that." Leo said, getting up. Piper stood up with him, and they both walked out of the door, but walked in different directions. Piper decided she was going to look for Jason, and Leo headed to the bow of the ship to continue the landing process.

Piper found Jason, Frank, Nico and Hazel all resting their elbows on the side of the ship, watching the landscapes swiftly pass them as they neared their destination.

Hazel turned around, "Hey Piper." She said quietly.

"Hey." Piper said equally soft. Half-blood Hill was starting to become visible now; she could almost see the Golden Fleece hanging on Thalia's tree. None of them really said anything; they all just stood quietly in each other's presence.

They could all feel the air underneath the boat become a little rough and they felt the boat shake as they landed on the top of Half-Blood Hill. A couple of campers streamed out over the hill and met them. Chiron was in horse form, standing among them.

Leo lowered a ladder for them to exit the Argo II. One by one they hopped off and faced the now crowd of campers standing in front of them.

"We're glad you all have arrived safely." Chiron spoke up, a twinge of sadness in his voice.

The silence among everyone was enough to give Piper goose bumps. She could feel her throat closing up as she tried to speak. "I'm so sorry." Is all that she could manage as she looked at the campers.

A guy with brown hair and a face that screamed trouble maker looked up. Piper thought he was one of the Stoll brothers. "You guys, it's Percy and Annabeth. If anybody could make it out of Tartarus, we all know it's them. Percy once fought Kronos in hand to hand combat, and kicked his ass! That dude was the baddest thing to ever make it out of Tartarus! And Percy gave it to him!"

"Yeah, he's right. They're going to be fine. Well, at least Annabeth will be fine, and she'll keep that kelp brain in line." Said a buff looking girl with stringy brown-blonde hair, Clarisse La Rue.

Multiple campers interjected similar comments, how Percy and Annabeth were amazing fighters and knew how to work together and get out of a mess because they'd already done it so many times, or how that even if they got in trouble, Annabeth had the brains to get them out of it.

"Annabeth's a strategist, and honestly the quickest thinking Athena camper this camp has ever seen. If she was able to find the Mark of Athena, a task that no other child of Athena was ever been able to do, she'll make it out." A guy from the Athena cabin, Malcolm, said. "She tricked Arachnea. You all do realize that the term arachnophobia was basically created for the children of Athena, right?" He said.

Chiron cleared his voice, loud enough to get everyone's attention. "I think that it is clear that Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase are more than competent enough to figure a way out of the exceedingly dangerous fate that has been brought upon them." He said. "I am, however, obliged to ask all campers to proceed to their cabins for lights out." Chiron announced. "Except for you six. I would like to speak with all of you in the big house." He said, a sorrow in his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Although Annabeth was falling in and out of consciousness, she was still able to feel her throbbing ankle and hear the sound of wind whistling past her ears. She didn't quite know if she was alive or dead, but she knew one thing for certain; she was falling to her death. The pain in her ankle was becoming white hot and she could vaguely hear the sound of what she figured was a rope snagging on something. She felt her body get jerked upward by something and the sound of Percy's voice cry out. The pain in her ankle became so intense could Annabeth feel herself slipping back into a state of unconsciousness, but was determined to stay awake.

It took a second for Annabeth to realize she wasn't falling anymore. She was lying on her back, but something was missing. Percy. She wasn't holding his hand anymore. In a wave of anxiety, Annabeth opened her eyes and saw nothing but the faint glow of celestial bronze. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness and she saw Percy hanging upside down off a small stone ledge about three feet off the ground, his feet tangled in what silk Arachne had used to pull them down. And she saw Percy using Riptide to saw the string off his feet.

"Percy wha-", Annabeth shrieked until Percy cut her off by shushing her.

"I'm cutting this off my feet." He said, his breathing heavy.

"Wait, are we at the bottom of Tartarus?" She asked, trying to orient herself. If this was the bottom of Tartarus, it was surprisingly _un_hell-like. In fact, she could see an edge about arm's length away from where she was sitting.

"Whoa!" Percy yelped as he fell to the floor, and onto his back.

"Oh my gods, are you okay?" Annabeth cried, trying to maneuver herself closer to him.

"I'm good. I'm good." He mumbled, sitting up. He rubbed his hand against the opposite shoulder as if it was hurt. Annabeth tried ignoring her pain and scooting closer to him, but he swatted his hand as to tell her to stop and he shifted himself so they were once again sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"Percy, how did you get us here?" Annabeth asked incredulously, eyeing the jagged ledge where Arachne's string had visibly been wrapped around.

"How's your ankle?" He asked, examining her foot.

"Percy!" Annabeth said loudly. "Did you flip us around that ledge so we would land here?" She asked him in disbelief.

Percy looked up at the ledge. "Uh…yeah. I did." He said, scratching his head. "Good idea, huh?"

"How did you know when to throw yourself at the ledge? You had to have an exact idea of what the angle of the ledge is." Annabeth said, narrowing her eyes at him. "That was genius."

"I just pretended it was like in the game _cut the rope_ I guess." He shrugged, "I _am_ really good at that game." He smiled, that sarcastic yet genuine smile he always had on his face. Annabeth felt herself almost start to sob in relief. She was okay. They were both alive. They were together. Percy's smile was enough proof.

Annabeth leaned over and kissed Percy. It wasn't a long kiss, but it spoke more than a 1000 words could have.

"I'll take that as a thank you." Percy murmured, his forehead still pressed against hers. They both started to laugh; they were too strung out on emotions to do anything else. They laughed for what seemed like a long time, their laughter echoing and bouncing off invisible walls. They both quieted down after a while, and Percy heaved a deep sigh.

"How are we going to find those doors?" He whispered, looking at Annabeth with desperation in his eyes.

Annabeth suddenly realized that behind them stood a cave entrance. "Wait, Percy, look." She said, turning his shoulders around. "We'll have to start there I guess." She said.

"Can you walk?" Percy asked, motioning to her foot.

"_That_ is a good question." She sighed, looking at her ankle. The splint she had crafted wasn't holding up too well.

"Wait," Percy said, his hand rifling through his left pocket for something. He pulled out a small leather pouch about the size of a wallet, closed his eyes, and pulled a considerably large piece of ambrosia out of it. He broke it in two, and gave half to her, and put the other piece back into the pouch. "Here." He said, giving her the morsel of ambrosia.

"Where did you get that?" Annabeth asked, studying the food of the gods before she proceeded to pop it into her mouth.

"The ambrosia?" Percy asked, setting the pouch on his lap.

"No, that pouch. Where did you get that?" She asked him. She picked the pouch, and examined it.

"Oh, Leo gave it to me." He said nonchalantly. "It's like a mini-version of his tool belt. His dad gave it to him and said he was supposed to give it to someone he trusted. He gave it to me while we were flying over here to come rescue you." He explained.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "That was really generous of him. This thing could save our lives!" She said, gesturing to it.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool of him, wasn't it?" He said, starting to stand up. It amazed Annabeth sometimes how simply Percy thought about things. He didn't make a big deal out of things that she may have, and she liked that about him.

"Do you want to try to walk, or do you want me to carry you?" He asked.

"I'll try to walk." She said, starting to get up. Percy was immediately behind her, his arms holding hers, so she could put all her weight on them to stand. She put her weight on her good foot, but then when the injured foot moved she screamed in pain and felt herself fall over. Percy immediately caught her. Her eyes were stinging with tears, but the pain was already starting to subside.

"I'm carrying you." He announced, as he picked her up bridal style. She tried to protest; he couldn't possible carry her until she was able to walk again, it would just be counter productive. He would get exhausted too quickly. But it didn't seem like he was going to take that into account, since he started to stand up and walk in the direction of the cave.

There was absolutely _no_ light in the cave other than riptide, that was hanging through one of Percy's belt loops. They couldn't see where the cave ended, and when Annabeth looked over her shoulder, it seemed like the ledge where the had come from had disappeared. There wasn't any sound either, other than Percy's footsteps and their breathing.

Percy carried her for what must've been a quarter of a mile until they both spotted an incredibly vague figure, with a luminescence to it. Annabeth could feel her heart beat faster, and Percy's too. This was Tartarus. The most logical thing that would happen if they found a glowing figure is that it would be something that would want to kill them.

"Hello?" Percy asked wearily, his steps stopping. The figure was starting to become brighter and more visible. It looked like a person, or spirit of some sort. "Hello?" Percy asked again, a twinge of fear in his voice this time.

They both heard a shallow breath escape from the figure. Annabeth bit her tongue as not to gasp out loud. The figure was now clearly a _human_ figure, though Annabeth wasn't sure it was a living being. Annabeth studied it, and was starting to be able to make out that it was someone who seemed about the same size as Percy and herself.

Annabeth could hear Percy's heart race, and he slightly tilted his head towards her ear. "Annabeth." He said so quietly, it was barely audible, but there was a panic in his voice.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes and suddenly it was clear what she was looking at. A guy, with white blonde hair, that had something frighteningly familiar about him.

"Hello Annabeth." The guy said, his voice cracking. "Never thought I'd see you again."

Annabeth felt her head start to spin. She was looking at Luke Castellan.


	3. Chapter 3

Jason thought that maybe after his memory had returned that he may have remembered more about his own sister, but he couldn't. Maybe Juno was purposely keeping certain memories from just because he was Jupiter's son. Although Juno _was_ his patron goddess, his could almost feel a sheer thin layer of resentment that Juno seemed to have towards Thalia and himself.

Jason was sitting at a ping-pong table at the Big House with Leo, Hazel, Piper, Nico Coach Hedge and his sister Thalia. She had somehow found out what had happened to Percy and Annabeth. He knew that Thalia was like a sister to Annabeth; that she and Luke had found her on the streets when she was 7. Jason was almost jealous. Annabeth, a girl he didn't really know all too well and who seemed a little pretentious to him, knew Thalia better than he ever would have.

He studied Thalia. Although she must've been at least in her early twenties now, she still looked like a 15 year old girl. He hair was choppy, her skin fare. Her bright blue eyes lined with charcoal black eyeliner glowed with electricity, _literally_. She was wearing dark grey skinny jeans, and a white Ramones t-shirt with a grey hoodie. And even though you might think that a silver tiara would seem out of place, it really wasn't. It marked her as a leader.

Jason looked over at depressed looking Piper and saw her peeking at Katoptris. He saw her expression went from depressed to utterly miserable. He wanted to know what she was looking at, but he knew that she probably wouldn't show him. For being his girlfriend, she seemed to keep a lot of things from him. He tried to not take it the wrong way, she just didn't want to worry other people. Still, in Camp Jupiter, it was your duty to notify praetor of any and all information you had, even if some people didn't always comply to those rules. But Jason did. There were rules for a reason. For you to follow them.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Jason, your turn."

Jason looked around at the others. "My turn for what?" he asked, slightly embarrassed that he had been thinking instead of paying attention to what they had been doing.

"Your turn to recount the story." Thalia said quietly, but still loud enough that Jason could hear it from the other side of the table where he was sitting.

"Oh. Right. Of course." He sighed, straightening up in his chair. "Well…basically the same as the others I guess." He muttered.

"Thank you for specifying that, cupcake." Coach Hedge grunted. It became silent.

"I want to go to Tartarus." Thalia announced, looking at the others for confirmation.

"You can't go alone, Thalia." Chiron chided. "It's too dangerous."

"Well I don't think any will join me." She answered quickly, sparks flying from her hands.

"I'll go." Someone answered. It was Nico. Jason had almost forgotten he was there. He was very quiet. He may still have been weak from sitting in a jar half dead for so long. But then again, Jason didn't know Nico at all. At least the Greek Nico. He thought it was very questionable that Nico seemed to know of the two camps, for so long, without telling anyone that he was visiting both. "I'll go with you Thalia." Nico said again.

Thalia narrowed her eyes at him. "You. You're going to go with me." She asked, eyebrows raised.

"Look, I know I'm a guy, and your forever a maiden, but I promise you babe, your not my type." He answered. Leo snorted, and said 'apply ice directly to the burn' and made a ssst noise.

"Oh, _as if_ I could ever think about any guy, let alone _you,_ like that." Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Seriously though." Nico said, his tone of voice changing. "I don't think that you'll even know how to get there without me. I am the son of Hades, Thalia, and you can't deny that." He said, looking her straight in the eyes.

"Well Hazel is a daughter of Hades too." Thalia said, pointing to Hazel.

"Yeah, but she's got the pimp jewels and stuff gene's, right?" Leo asked. "Nico's the skull & bones kid." He said. Leave it to Leo to say something like that.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "He's right though." She sighed, answering Thalia's stare. "Nico is more powerful in the underworld than I am when it comes to navigation and getting spirits to cooperate."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll go with Nico to Tartarus."

"I think that it should be discussed first before you the two of you go there." Chiron said, looking at the two of them. "I already have two of my strongest heroes in Tartarus, and he cannot even confirm that they're still alive."

"Wait, you think they're dead?" Jason said, looking up.

"That's not what I said, Jason." Chiron said calmly. "I said that we cannot confirm whether they are dead or alive."

"I can't tell if they are either." Nico said, covering his eyes with his hands. "I usually can. It's only happened twice before that I haven't been able to. When Annabeth was kidnapped, and when Percy was missing."

"When was Annabeth kidnapped?" Piper asked, knitting her eyebrows and looking at Nico.

"When she and Percy where in the 8th grade they were sent on a quest to recruit Nico and…Bianca." Thalia said, trying hard not to let the last words hang. She looked at Nico, who's expression seemed pained. She continued. "Anyway, Annabeth got kidnapped in the process along with Artemis and was forced to hold up the sky. But that's not really the point." She said.

"I couldn't sense them then because a god or a titan was making sure that no one would be able to do so." Nico said.

"Gaea." Hazel said, looking around the table.

"Or Arachne." Leo added.

"Or Hades." Nico said. Everyone looked at him. "Listen," he said, placing his elbows on the table. "they're never going to be able to find the doors if we were to succeed in rescuing them. It's just counter productive. _Someone's_ got to open those doors. Someone would have to stay in Tartarus and find them."

"So what do you want us to do?" Jason asked. "_Not _rescue them?"

"Well.." Nico shrugged sheepishly. "If anyone could do it, they could." He said. "Ow!" He yelled suddenly. Jason looked over at Thalia who had just placed her hand on the table. "What was that for?" He asked, eyes narrowed at her.

"Two seconds ago you agreed to go to Tartarus with me." She said, raising her hands out of frustration.

"Thalia, Nico has a point." Chiron said. Thalia huffed, and leaned back in her chair. As defiant as Thalia seemed to be sometimes, she, and all of the campers at Camp-Half Blood, seemed to know what Chiron said was the truth they didn't want to hear.

"Look," Nico said. "We _can_ do this: We could go to the underworld and ask spirits and whoever else we can get to talk to us whether they've seen Percy or Annabeth. Maybe one of them knows where the doors are. It's unlikely, but if you're going to be so stubborn about it.." He said, leaning back in his chair as well.

Thalia placed both of her palms flat on the table. "So we're going to the underworld?." She asked. Chiron nodded as if he agreed. "Then it's settled. First thing tomorrow morning." She said, raising her head high.

* * *

**Please review! **

**-Annakate-**


End file.
